Video conferencing promises to greatly change the way people interact. In the age of expensive air travel, costly fossil fuels, terrorism and new infectious diseases, there is a great need for effective video conferencing. Effective video conferencing must attempt to achieve the impact of face-to-face meetings, i.e., to create a telepresence. In order to make video conferencing more like face-to-face interactions, a number of factors need improvement including: communicating non-verbal information to all participants, detecting and communicating gaze among each of the participants, maintaining eye contact as well as other visual and auditory information.
Current video conferencing and human-computer interaction technology often consists of the following: A local camera records a frontal image of a participant and transmits the information to a flat display in the remote location. The image of the remote participant is recorded using a remote camera and displayed on a local flat display to the local participant. Because the camera recording the image is not coincident with the display, the participants cannot maintain eye contact during speaking and listening. Moreover, it is difficult to determine the gaze location of the remote person (i.e., where the person is looking). Such nonverbal information provides an indication of the person's interest and level of involvement, comprehension, etc. Finally, the present video conferencing does not provide for good depth perception and three-dimensional presentation of images. Multiple camera angels require special glasses or goggles which have proved to have limited consumer appeal.
Likewise, in the case of human-computer interaction, a common approach is to project a flat animated image on a flat screen. The gaze of the computer figure is unrelated to the message or location of the human during the interaction. The displays are two-dimensional and are rather bulky, so use on mobile platforms such as robotics is difficult and expensive.
The current invention provides a solution to the above and other problems and provides a more lifelike communication experience through more realistic representation and display and gaze preservation during remote meetings.